by Danielle Monsch, Cate Rowan, Jennifer Lewis, Jeannie Lin, Nadia Lee, Dee Carney
Unclenching his jaw, Langley began the briefing. It was the quickest, easiest way to get rid of the man.
After explaining his escape, he realized Harwich had no idea of Langley’s mods. “I must warn you. To find my way down to the ground, I had to accept my mère’s plans to modify me. That’s why I no longer wear my glasses.”
A short and fleeting look of disgust crossed Harwich’s face before he blanked himself. His curious perusal caught Langley from head to toe and left him sweating with an unusual nervousness. Harwich nodded slowly. “It’s not apparent. We’ll hide it as long as possible. If need be, place a few bribes. If it’d been obvious, we’d have to part with you, but we can make this work. Your position with us is too valuable.”
Langley’s stomach flipped in a queasy, sluggish thud.
Even NOMBIO could be bought.
“Mère used an innocent to force me into it.” He spoke through curiously numb lips. The words seemed like not only a rationalization, but a weakness, as if he had to defend himself in some way, explain away the affair he’d had, not that Harwich knew of the affair, or ever would.
“We can use it. Must have been a female. A bio-creation, I presume. Is it alive, for us to verify the abuse of the poor biological creation?”
Langley snorted. “She’s not so helpless.”
“She?” Harwich raised a brow. “Gothel Island experimented on a human?”
Clearing his throat, ready to explain, Langley opened his mouth but nothing came out.
Bennet put a tray with a tea cup and carafe on the table in the middle of this strange tableau and spoke in an oddly soothing tone. “The poor creature won’t be a part of this.”
“Ah.” A sad quietness came over Harwich, who bent his head as if in prayer. Langley didn’t correct the obvious assumption the man had made that whatever had happened, this ‘creature’ being discussed had died. The moment passed and Harwich leaned forward eagerly. “Let’s talk of your evidence.”
“Let me get this straight, you want to continue my mission, though I’ve had a modification?”
This stunning revelation bothered him. A sudden urge to leave NOMBIO assailed him.
But that couldn’t be.
He had a duty. He couldn’t do it if NOMBIO didn’t help him.
“If you’d volunteered for it, or, like the last member we renounced, took in bio-creations as if they were human family, then we’d know you didn’t uphold our ideals.” Harwich gave a smug smile. “But you are one of us. Enough of that. What do we have? Can we force Madame Gothel out and put you in charge of Gothel Island?”
“I have records of a few small experiments, but I didn’t have time to crack into the files that prove she’s breaking The Living Rights Oath.”
“When do you go back?” A serious expression tightening his mouth, Harwich leaned forearms on his knees.
“Go back.” Langley surged up and paced away. He needed a haircut. Pushing the sweaty strands of hair clinging to his forehead and falling into his eyes, he paced. Perhaps he’d been wrong. His duty was so much more than he’d thought. In a position of power, he could safeguard Zel and others like her. He couldn’t do that here on the ground, with no resources except for NOMBIO.
Harwich stared at him with an expectant expression when Langley whirled around and admitted, “I do have to go back. There’s no other way. I need to convince Mère to let me work with her. Somehow.”
“She will.” Harwich said his goodbyes and left with the parting salvo, “You have to stop her. Madame Gothel has placed an order for the delivery of a dozen pre-teen males next month. Get the proof. Before Cupboard Labs fills the order.”
“A dozen,” he whispered as the door closed.
Silence filled the condo.
Mère must stop. He was the only person to make sure she did. GOoSE wouldn’t tear down the most popular bio-researcher of all time. Mother would never get an agent in. Time had run out for those dozen pre-teens. He had to go back. Soon.
His chest ached. He had to see Zel one last time. Just one more time before he never saw her again. He’d never know his child, and he dare not acknowledge the pang that shot through him at those thoughts. “I have to go.”
Bennet didn’t stop him, but his “yes, sir” bolstered Langley in a way no words from Mère ever had. Bennet understood. He always had.
Outside, Langley stood at the corner curb and flicked on the strobe pole to call a hovercab. His mind whirled, going over the impossibilities as murky shadows of passing Islands flickered across the ground.
Sometime later, he climbed aboard a hovercab. The credits went through, and he exhaled a huff. So far Mère hadn’t found him missing and canceled his accounts. He’d return by tonight and convince her he had nothing to do with Zel’s escape.
He must convince Mère.
When the craft sat down in the circular path outside Mother, it barely paused long enough for him to climb out before it zipped away, nearly taking his shiny dress shoes with it.
Long walls, at least twenty feet high, stretched to both sides for as far as he could see. Above the fence, the shimmering waves of a security net rose into the sky. No hovercars could skip over the walls and into the compound beyond. In front of him, as if built in the side of a stone mountain, a massive building with wide columns and large metal double doors thrice his height gave a forbidding welcome.
At the entry, a large screening area was mostly vacant. Guards had him walk through an arch scanner to search for metal, unusual botanical signatures, and illegal DNA mods. There weren’t many illegal mods, but GOoSE drew the line at some things—like extra appendages and the blue skin that one scientist had created to heighten the sense of touch. On the other side of the room, a long line of comp-tablet pedestals interspersed with chairs and couches gave visitors an area to sign in for appointments.
No appointment awaited him. There were no receptionists to plead his case, to find an official who’d somehow make Zel talk to him. His plan had started to crumble before he’d even seen her.
He fisted his hands and walked to one of the consoles. A greeting screen instructed him to locate the person he’d visit or to punch in an access code. The listing of employees was brief, maybe a dozen public-facing officials. Too short a list. Obviously this wasn’t a full accounting of Mother employees, and Zel wasn’t on it.
Staring without seeing, he stood there. He’d done this all wrong. He didn’t know how to get through the doors at the end of the room and into the compound. Even if he did, he didn’t know where she lived. He didn’t know how to find her. He’d never see her again and he wanted more than anything to explain. To say goodbye.
It had to be goodbye. If he failed NOMBIO, then he failed at stopping Mère’s heinous research.
He slapped the surface of the tablet.
There was no point standing here with the security guards eyeing him. As he turned, a name blared up at him from the list.
Bovine.
Firming his jaw—and his resolve—he jabbed his finger at the name.
After a few moments, the console lit with a connection screen and a man spoke from the tinny speakers. “State your name and business.”
Already he hated the man. Bovine had a claim on Zel he’d never have. Gripping the console he leaned in. “This is Langley Gothel from Gothel Island. I have something you want.”
He had Zel’s braid. And this man had something Langley wanted. His gut burned.
“Don’t move.” The connection dropped and the welcome screen returned.
Before he could blink, a grip on his arm spun him around.
A guard in a blue uniform, black shades, and a cut so short his hair resembled stubble, gripped his elbow. “You are being detained. Cooperate fully and you will be unharmed.”
“What the hell?” Langley yanked his arm away. “Get your hand off me.”
Three other guards surrounded him. They grabbed at him, blocking his escape, while one managed to get shackles on his left wrist before
Langley realized what was happening. The reception area was gone, replaced by men with broad, uniformed chests come to arrest him.
The rage, the fruitless yearning, the inescapable truth he had to let Zel go, surged through his body in an anger so fierce he flung out with frustration. He struggled, and their restraining holds grew brutal. Thrusting an elbow back, he was rewarded with a huff and pained grunt. He kicked out, striking another guard in the knee. The man buckled.
Almost free.
He spun but couldn’t rip away as a fist sank into his gut. His breath left in a whoosh. Flailing, he threw his elbow and fists, connecting with a chin, a stomach, a thick arm.
A hard knock rocked into the side of his face. Pain sparkled in his vision and a loud buzzing filled his head.
Blackness claimed him.
Light splintered his closed eyes.
His body crumpled.
Before he hit the floor, cuffs bound his hands, but he couldn’t see to get away. He shook his head and the world lurched. He bit back nausea and spat out, “Uncover my eyes.”
Silence answered and everything seemed to stop moving.
“There’s nothing over your eyes, buster. Let’s go. You’re under arrest for kidnapping Rapunzel Denmark.”
Chapter Seven
‡
Langley stopped fighting. The blow to the head had done something. He couldn’t chance another knock.
They didn’t take him far. There must’ve been detaining rooms in the security area. Rough hands shoved him into a cold, hard chair with his hands secured in front of him on his lap. The scuffle of boots marched out the door, and one of the guards spoke, probably into a communication device. “We have him, sir. His eyes…”
And the door shut.
Yes, his eyes. Whether or not he’d regain vision he had no idea, and it scared him.
Shivering, he sat for long minutes. Either it was cold in here, or that knock to the head had done some serious damage. NOMBIO might be pleased if the mod failed, and he had it removed, to be human again, sans eyes. But Zel wouldn’t want him this way. As a created, perfect woman, she couldn’t want a flawed human such as himself.
“You can’t see a thing, can you?” Someone scoffed in his ear.
Langley jerked away, nearly toppling out of the slick chair. He’d thought he was alone, but someone watched him in a moment of weakness. Straightening, he willed the useless moping away.
“I’m looking for Bovine.” Langley resisted the urge to straighten his shirt. He’d spent the night, not sleeping, in a stairwell in these clothes.
“He’ll be here.”
In the long moments waiting, he kept his chin up and refused to shiver though the cold had an all-encompassing grip on him.
The door opened, loud in the quiet room. A large, calloused hand gripped his face with a painful pinch and turned him side to side. Handcuffed, blind, the room spinning, he sat there and allowed this stranger to manhandle him. Served him right for letting Mère take his eyes and what they’d both done to Zel.
“Hold still,” commanded the newcomer. “Don’t twitch, talk, or think loudly.”
Langley froze while the pounding in his head ratcheted up to deafening levels. A puff of heat blew across his face and a click sounded near his ear.
“Your optical nerve is still intact. Here, this should help.” A buzzing filled his head and abruptly stopped. “Try to avoid a hard blow to your head, for at least a few months, or your optic nerve might reject the implants. Not that I care if a kidnapper ever sees again. You’re lucky I could interpret the code and fix you.”
“You did something to me?” Helpless, cold, and stuck in this place, he understood exactly what Zel had gone through. His body was no longer under his control and might never be again.
“I reduced swelling and rebooted those eyes of yours. Interesting tech you have there.” A sharp suspicion lay beneath the statement, but Langley didn’t care about Mère’s bio-tech at the moment. He wanted to see Zel and explain.
“Do you see any light?” The question didn’t come in a friendly manner, rather more begrudging than he’d expect from a doctor.
“A little.” The relief of the unrelenting darkness abating loosened his fists pressed against the cuffs.
“We’ll give it a few moments.” Then the man was gone and Langley waited, again.
All he could think of was how a future with Zel might’ve been. Would their son have the same calming presence she had? Or the ability to see the good in him? Better than anything he’d give their son, Zel had independence, and intelligence, and an inherent grace that stunned him when she sparred.
Shutting out that mental path, he made himself stop thinking of the impossible and to plan some way to get out of this mess. When he could, he’d memorize this room, find a weakness, and get out of here.
Gradually, his vision started to return, but it remained blurry, and his head throbbed. The room was bare except for a small table and two chairs. Maybe he could break the chair over the guards’ heads and escape. The door clicked behind him and a large man, barely in focus, leaned over him.
“Looks like the treatment worked. Madame Gothel’s tech is different, but I hacked it.” An older man with fine lines fanning from his eyes frowned. “I’m Bovine.”
The man Zel loved had fixed Langley’s eyes. He wanted to claw them out of his head.
“I need to see Zel,” Langley blurted. He was jealous of a man old enough to be Zel’s father. The man was a scoundrel, having a fling with a woman so young. Even with his hands in cuffs, he had an insurmountable urge to strangle him. “Where’s Zel?”
Bovine pulled him out of his chair with a harsh hold on his arm. “You mean Rapunzel.”
The man dared give him a disapproving look. Bastard. Langley swallowed the expletives he wanted to hurl. “Yes. Do you know where she is?”
“Of course I do. She’s my daughter.”
Langley’s face went hot with anger and he made to lunge at the man. “Impossible.”
A guard at the door drew a mechgun and leveled it straight at Langley’s head.
He throttled back his rage and tried to think. Everything had been coming at him fast as a hovercar at full throttle since Zel had cut her hair.
Bovine commanded. “Put the gun away. Let’s go, Gothel. We’ll discuss Rapunzel and what you’ve done in my office. Then, you’ll spend the rest of your life in rehabilitation.”
Needing to understand, he let Bovine push him toward the door.
Though things were still wavery, he made out several feet in front of him, including the stubble-headed guard who scowled but didn’t move to follow them out of the holding room. They traversed long halls filled with people of all manner. All wearing badges. Tall, short, skinny, average, in plain clothes, suits, or rags, they all had the same serious expressions. Bovine led him through the large, marble-floored mausoleum and entered a courtyard behind. They took moving sidewalks along the edge of the property and passed exercise yards, tall scrapers, and a residential quad that made his heart beat faster. Zel could live in one of those apartments rising to the sky. The glass glittered, bringing the dull ache back to his eyes.
The surgery had been compromised. He could only hope not permanently.
Bovine led him to the back of a warehouse fronting the security gates onto the unseen streets of New Castle. They walked more wide corridors filled with people, except these looked even more serious, haughty with a hint of anger to their movements.
They entered a large equipment room. Weapons—mechguns, shining katanas, and odds and ends—lined the walls.
Bovine removed the handcuffs. “Sit. Rapunzel asked me not to kill you. Promised you weren’t the one to hurt her. That’s the only reason you’re not locked away already. I’ll hear you out, and if you corroborate what she’s already told me, you’ll be free to go.”
Confusion had kept him off-kilter, but when the door shut and Bovine pulled out a chair, Langley sank into it, rubbed his wrists where
they’d chafed with the cuffs, and stared at his wrinkled slacks. Zel had asked he not be hurt but didn’t want to see him. The only way Bovine would listen to her plea was if he did love her. “How can you be her father? She’s a creation.”
“Did you not think a child could be made outside a womb? That she could have a father?”
“She told me she was created from different people. Like all bio-creations.” Langley kept his aching head motionless as guilt wormed into him. He crossed his legs and ignored the clouds floating in his vision.
“I wanted a daughter.” Bovine leaned back. “A child of my own. I’ve helped raise so many of Mother’s agents, but they wouldn’t allow me to marry.” A shadow passed over Bovine’s face. The ingrained Gothel in Langley wouldn’t allow him to ask why Bovine couldn’t marry, but the man explained further and the moment to ask was gone. “An agent…” Bovine cleared his throat and stared at the top of his desk. “An agent died on mission. She’d donated her organs and DNA to Mother.”
Bovine stopped for long minutes. Langley couldn’t move. A deep weight pressed down on his chest to imprison him here, waiting. The lights above flickered as Bovine drew out a handkerchief and wiped his face. “I combined my DNA with hers, made a few modifications to hide my purpose. The project I supposedly created the child for, I declared a failure. But she. She was not. She’s been the light of my life, even if I can’t publicly claim her.”
“Does she know?” Langley’s world wasn’t what he’d thought. He blinked and the man in front of him looked like what he’d be in a few years, without Zel. Lost.
“Rapunzel knows I love her. She knows I’m her father. Yes. She also knows I’d go after anyone who hurt her. Including you.” Bovine’s face darkened to a severe frown. “She told me. About the baby.”
“Can I see her?” Langley humbled himself with the entreaty.
Bovine blinked and visibly lowered a wall over his emotions before he answered. “Are you worthy of her, son?” The man’s shrewdness sharpened his mouth and highlighted the danger of this Mother operative. “She came to me last night. Heartbroken. As soon as I got her calmed, I researched you. I know everything. How you were a spoiled brat raised on the Islands. How you went to college and fell into the trendy anti-bio movement. All while taking allowance from Momma.”